Apple's App Store Now Worth More Than All of RIM

As 2011 winds to a close, things couldn't look much worse for Research in Motion (RIMM).

Co-CEOs Michael Lazaridis and James Balsillie have led the company into technological obsolescence and obscurity, dwarfed by the powerful performances of Android (GOOG) and iOS (AAPL) devices. Even the partnership between Nokia (NOK) and Windows Phone (MSFT) shows more promise than RIM's stubborn refusal to innovate. RIM's future looks even more bleak as the company announced that its next platform, BlackBerry 10, won't stock start shipping until the second half of 2012 -- an eternity considering the Android and iOS devices set to be released before then.

RIM's stock is now trading at 52 week lows, marking a 75% loss year-to-date, and finished last week with a total value of $7.04 billion. To put that into perspective, the entirety of Research in Motion is now worth less than Apple's App Store alone.